Hope Under the Stars
by Talesoftwofairies
Summary: Gray notices Juvia has been acting weird since the fight with END.


_Shelbi's notes: __This fic is set after the Tartarus arc. Also shout out to Christine, my main man, my partner in crime, my bestest friend, for editing this story and making it flow. Hope you guys enjoy. :)_

_Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima._

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><p>Moonlight filtered through the wispy clouds and reflected off the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. It was a hazy sort of light, not quite strong enough to protect the city from the darkness that engulfed it, but enough to tint everything in a blueish hue, save for the few yellow streetlights. The only sounds that could be heard was the soft wind, the chirp of a few crickets, and Gray's footsteps.<p>

He was restless. Something felt missing within him and he couldn't shake the feeling. So, he decided to walk.

In the dead of night.

At three in the morning.

A sharp wind suddenly blew into him. Gray pulled his coat closer and buried himself deeper into his scarf.

Ever since Gray inherited the Ice Demon Slayer magic from his father's passing, he couldn't seem to warm up. He was perpetually cold. It was an advantage in battle, it made his magic stronger. But now, in the dead of night, after an excruciating long fight with END, he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nice warm bed and sleep.

Fairy Tail only managed to defeat END at the dawning hours of yesterday morning, and Gray had spent the whole day tending to the wounded, Juvia in particular. During the war, she had put herself in danger for Gray's sake on more than one occasion. In the final battle, Juvia had launched herself in front of deadly blow directed at Gray. There had been so much blood, and it was his fault that she was that situation to begin with.

Roughly, Gray shook his head. He didn't want to be reminded of her image of her blood splattered everywhere or how light she felt when he cradled her limp, shredded body. It was too painful. But something else had been wrong with Juvia. He noticed that sometime during the war, she stopped looking him in the eye. And now that he thought about it, she acted awfully reckless during the battles, almost as if she was eager to throw herself into danger to save Gray.

He frowned, but kept his pace. He was half wandering through the streets, half heading to a destination. He finally came to the bridge that lead out of town. Hills swooped the landscape and the grass swayed gently from the wind. It was darker here than it was in the city, due to the lack of streetlights, but Gray knew where to go even without light.

He found his hill and started climbing.

He had stumbled upon this spot two days after he joined Fairy Tail. Back when he lived on the icy mountains with Ur, he used to sneak out at night to gaze up at the stars. It gave him hope, especially when he needed it most. However, when he arrived at Magnolia, he found he could barely see any stars at all. The dull light which bathed the city allowed only a few stars to pop out of the night sky. But Gray didn't want to see a few lousy stars, he wanted to see the heavens, and the multitude of colors. He wanted to see a true night sky. Which is why, on his second night at Fairy Tail, he snuck out and hiked to these hills outside of Magnolia and found the best view.

Snapping back from his memory, Gray shuffled to the top of his hill. He took a deep breath and looked out. Facing South, he could see the city, looking ethereal in the soft light that illuminated it. Looking North, there was nothing but the dark outlines of the hills and mountains that framed the city.

Gray was taking in the view, when he heard rustling to his left. He peeked around a bush and saw Juvia, sitting crossed legged on the grassy slope.

"Juvia?"

Juvia jumped. "Gray-sama?!"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you doing out here? You're injured."

Juvia simply looked away, making no indication of answering. Gray walked over and plopped down next to her, stretching out his legs in front of him.

After a few moments Gray looked over at Juvia.

"So, are you going to tell me what you're doing out of bed?" He asked.

Juvia curled her legs to her chest and turned her head away from Gray.

Gray sighed and looked up into the night sky. Out here, surrounded by darkness, the stars showered them with light. Gray watched the multitude of blue and yellow stars shimmer against the black sky. They sat like this for a while, bathing in the silence and starlight.

Finally, Gray broke the silence. "When I was little, I never dreamed that I would live in a city. I always thought I would live in small town out in the mountains, so that every night I would be able to sit under all this," He swept his arm out gesturing to the grandness of the stars. "And to remind myself that that no matter how dark life gets, light can still shine through."

Juvia spoke up in a quiet voice. "Why is Gray-sama telling Juvia this?"

He looked over and saw her staring out at the landscape in front of them, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.

"Cause you're sitting out here in the middle of nowhere, injured and moping, instead of enjoying the view," He looked at her curiously. "We defeated END... shouldn't you be happy?"

Juvia closed her eyes and violently shook her head.

"No, Juvia did something terrible, something unforgivable and now Gray-sama is here, comforting Juvia, when she doesn't deserve it." With a shuddering breath, Juvia stood up.

More tears flowed from her eyes and Gray watched her with confusion and helplessness as she trembled.

"Juvia is so foolish and- and- She is so sorry Gray-sama. Juvia never wanted to do anything that would hurt Gray-sama, b-but Juvia did the worst possible act imaginable. Gray-sama deserve so much better, and Juvia is sorry she was ever part of Gray-sama's life...Juvia only brings misery and gloom to anyone she is around." She covered her face in her hands and started weeping.

Gray stood up and reached out for her, uncertainly. But Juvia stepped out of his reach.

"Juvia, what are you talking about?" He was concerned now, he has never seen her this upset before and the intensity was scaring him.

Finally, with a trembling lip and tears running down her face, she looked him in the eye for the first time that night and said, "Juvia was the one who killed Gray-sama's father."

Gray flinched and looked away.

Juvia watched the way his shoulder's tensed, from a small distance away. He would surely hate her now. He won't be able to look at her anymore without seeing his father's murderer. She'll become the haunting reminder of his father's death, the trigger for his pain and suffering. Juvia knew this would happen, which is why she had packed her bags and bought a train ticket for someplace far away from here. His father had entrusted Gray's well-being to her, but after fighting beside Gray during the battle with END, she felt like a fraud. By leaving, she was protecting him from pain, which is what his father would have wanted for Gray. A life free from misery. Which meant a life free from Juvia.

With gasping breaths and cloudy vision she looked up at the blurry stars, at Gray's symbol of hope.

Gray had become her symbol of hope. He gave her back the sunshine, and taken away the rain that cursed her. But as she said earlier, Juvia was foolish.

She turned towards the path leading back to Fairy Tail. Tonight, she would take her bags and flee from the only home she has ever known. Without looking at Gray, she started making her way down the hill. She only made it a few steps before a hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist.

She whipped around to see Gray, staring at her with hard eyes.

"No," He growled. "You didn't kill my father. Deliora did. You killed a demon who my father was tied to. You saved us all."

Juvia tried to look away from Gray's intense gaze, but he caught her face between his hands and forced her to look at him.

"Don't you dare do this to yourself, Juvia. Do you understand me? Thinking this way won't help anything, it'll only eat you alive. If you hadn't killed that demon, then I- we would have all died, because I wasn't able to kill my father," He looked away and let go of her face, ashamed. "I would have let everyone die for a man I hadn't seen in years."

Juvia stared at Gray in astonishment. She should be the ashamed one, not him. She took her hand and placed it on his cheek. "That does not make Gray-sama weak. Silver-san is Gray-sama's father... it would been like killing a part of Gray-sama."

Gray's eyes were still filled with sadness but he smiled weakly. "Then it's a good thing that you're always there to watch my back."

"Always." She said with every inch of her heart, as blood flooded her face.

Warmth spread through Gray's veins, and for the first time since this whole mess with END started, he felt himself relax. Everything felt normal again.

He looked over her tear stained face shining in the moonlight, her eyes filled with love and optimism, and he felt his heart expand. Overcome with an overpowering feeling he had thought he lost a long time ago, he pulled her into an embrace. He felt her stiffen the slightest before relaxing into him and wrap her arms around him. He pulled away, and before he could lose his courage, he kissed her on the forehead.

With a sheepish smile so unlike his usual cool demeanor, he took her hand.

"We better get you back to bed so you can heal."

But Juvia's heart had quite literally stopped beating when his lips had brushed her forehead and she knew she wouldn't make it down the hill. She knew that she had never seen Gray more open or resolute toward her before and now that she had she craved to see more. She wanted to bask in this moment forever and never let it slip away with the dawn, so she said, "Juvia wants to enjoy the view for a while longer."

Together they sat, Gray with his arm wrapped around Juvia's waist and Juvia leaning into him, and watched the stars break through the darkness.


End file.
